- Hisense has announced a phone with a detachable rear screen
- The front screen is electronic ink and the rear screen is LCD.
- The phone has currently only been announced for China, so it may not be widely available.
We don’t see much experimentation in smartphone design anymore, which is why I always applaud when companies try something new. That’s exactly what Hisense has done with its new A10 phone, as it has two screens and one of them is detachable.
Specifically (via GoodEreader), it has a 6.13-inch monochrome e-paper display on the front (it’s unclear if it’s officially an e-ink one) and a detachable color LCD display on the back.
It runs Android 16, but most of the specs have yet to be revealed, other than it uses a 4nm octa-core chipset, which leaker Experience More claims is a Snapdragon. In any case, being 4nm means it won’t be a high-end phone, but then the high-end specs would arguably be wasted on an e-paper display.
According to Experience More, the detachable LCD screen will be sold separately. This makes sense, since not everyone will necessarily want two screens.
But it’s an interesting idea, potentially giving you the benefits of both e-paper and a conventional phone screen, and since the second screen is detachable, you don’t have to add the bulk or fragility of the second screen when you don’t want to.
The other way around
I can’t help but think it would have made more sense to make the e-paper screen the detachable rear one. After all, for most people an e-paper screen is more of a secondary device: one that can be used to read a book or conserve battery, but not for most smartphone tasks.
There is a market for e-paper phones: those who want simplicity or less eye strain are attracted to them, and they can also help encourage people to use their phones less, because there is more friction there than with an LCD or OLED screen.
But they are still niche devices, and while the Hisense A10 in some ways gives you the best of both worlds, it could end up being even more niche, as it combines the niche of an e-paper display with the niche of a dual-screen device.
Personally, I’d love to see this reversed: offering buyers a conventional smartphone with the option of an e-paper attachment. But until a company gives us that, there will always be the Xteink X4, a small e-reader that can attach magnetically to the back of phones.
The problem with this is that it doesn’t run Android or integrate with your phone’s apps, making it a little more limited than a true dual-screen device would be. But it’s better than nothing.
As for the Hisense A10, it is currently only advertised for China, so you may have to import it.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to receive news, reviews and opinions from our experts in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
